I have always wonder why people go back and forth about sunless tanning lotions and tanning beds. Now I think I know why.
There are so many different health warnings and medical advice that it is hard to know what is best to do for yourself. The medical reports seem to vary from week to week. What is bad for you one week is considered a good thing the next week. My husband and I love to drink coffee. After listening to a medical report several years ago we decided that we needed to cut back on the amount we drank and added tea to our choices. Last week we heard a report on the news that drinking coffee is good for the colon and that a person should drink more of it. It is confusing to know who to listen to and what to believe.
One area that all the experts seem to agree on is that too much exposure to the sun in bad for the skin and places a higher risk for skin cancer. My sister and I used to lie in the sun for hours getting as dark tan as possible every summer. We even tried the sunless tanning lotions that were available, but our skin turned orange and streaky. Once I started college I did not continue in the pursuit of a tan, however my sister still did. She would go to the tanning booths as well as lay in the sun. As she aged her skin began to show the effects of the prolonged sun exposure, especially her face. Our other sister is in the medical field and was always cautioning her to wear sun screen and hats or visors to protect her face. My sister agreed that she needed to take better care of her skin, but she liked looking tan.
A few weeks ago I met my sister for lunch. This was the beginning of spring and most of us still have the white look of winter on our skin. My sister's face, neck and hands had a warm tan glow about them. I asked her if they had gone some place warm on vacation or if she was back to the tanning booths. She told me that she had learned her lesson about tanning and that she had found sunless tanning lotions and was using them. She said that there are many improvements in the sunless tanning lotions compared to those that were available when we were growing up. Today the sunless tanning lotions do not turn your skin orange, and many of them are mixed in with daily body lotion so they go on smoother with less streaking. She had a healthy glow to her skin without the damage that the sun and tanning booths can cause. She did say that you need to be careful when you are in the sun because the sunless tanning lotions make your skin appear darker, but it is not like having a base tan. The use of sunscreen is still important when you are outdoors for long periods of time.
